Cherokee Bean – Florida Master Gardener Volunteer Program

Plant Identification Learning Module:
Ornamentals

Cherokee Bean, Coral Bean (Erythrina herbacea)

Cherokee bean is a shrub that attains a height of five to ten feet. The Cherokee bean has compound leaves that are alternate, semi-deciduous, light to medium green in color, and four to eight inches long. The leaflets are spade-shaped. Scarlet, tubular flowers are produced from April to June. The fruits of the Cherokee bean are drooping pods that split in the fall to reveal the beautiful, scarlet, poisonous seeds.

Cherokee bean plant — **Photo by Gil Nelson, from his book “Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida”**

Cherokee bean flowers — **Photo by Bob Bierman**

Cherokee bean fruit — **Photo by Allen Boatman**
**© Wunderlin, R. P., and B. F. Hansen. 2008.** USF Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants

Cherokee bean foliage and fruit — **UF/IFAS**

Plant Identification Learning Module:
Ornamentals

Cherokee Bean, Coral Bean (Erythrina herbacea)

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Plant Identification Learning Module:Ornamentals

Cherokee Bean, Coral Bean (Erythrina herbacea)

Plant Identification Learning Module:
Ornamentals